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I just ordered a new PC with an i7-3770 & W8 so it will be UEFI constrained. I have no interest in running windows and have a Ubuntu 12.04 system configured exactly as I want it. Can I remove the HD from the new PC when it arrives and swap in the Ubuntu HD without a need to alter GRUB?

I'm clueless about BIOS settings, altering GRUB or any of the growing list of things mentioned here to deal with the UEFI issue and would very much appreciate any and all help in dealing with this. Thank you!...Dave

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Yes, it should work, but with a couple of caveats:

  • Your new computer will probably be configured to boot with UEFI and with Secure Boot active. To get your old (presumably BIOS-based) installation working, you'll probably have to adjust your firmware settings to disable Secure Boot and perhaps to enable BIOS/legacy/CSM support. Precisely how you do this varies greatly from one computer to another, so you'll have to dig into your firmware settings and figure it out for yourself, or locate model-specific documentation.
  • A new computer might have hardware that's newer than the drivers available in Ubuntu 12.04. Thus, you may need to upgrade your kernel or add new kernel modules. This could be tricky, particularly if one of the drivers you need to upgrade provides very basic services, such as a driver for a hard disk controller. It's probably best to just try it and hope for the best. If you can't get it to boot, swap the disk back to the old machine and do research on the new computer's hardware and how to get Ubuntu 12.04's kernel to work with it.
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  • Rod, thanks for the info. As a follow-up: what about if I first upgrade to Ubuntu 12.10, would that improve my odds re drivers and etc.? I'm very concerned about the possible need to adjust the BIOS & disable Secure Boot as I'm clueless in that regard. All I do know is that I very much want to preserve my Ubuntu system to the extent possible & am reluctant to damage the Windows install until I have Ubuntu up & running - then that HD can be wiped & used for backup...Dave
    – davedo2
    Feb 1, 2013 at 3:28
  • Yes, Ubuntu 12.10 uses a newer kernel and therefore has more up-to-date drivers than does Ubuntu 12.04.
    – Rod Smith
    Feb 3, 2013 at 2:20
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Yes, it's very simple. Ubuntu will automatically recognize the new hardware and operate accordingly to the new hardware's needs. I've done this plenty of times :)

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    Hi Jebold17 - do you mean that you've swapped a Ubuntu configured HD into many older PC's or that you have actually done that with a new UEFI controlled PC?
    – davedo2
    Feb 1, 2013 at 3:30
  • Yes, and vice versa :)
    – Jebeld17
    Feb 2, 2013 at 14:22

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